Building a home for the cactus wren

Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

A cactus wren looks for insects in a Mexican elderberry bush in the Irvine Open Space Reserve near Laguna Canyon Road. The bird is about 8 inches long and nests in cactus and thorny plants that grow in the hilly area.

A cactus wren looks for insects in a Mexican elderberry bush in the Irvine Open Space Reserve near Laguna Canyon Road. The bird is about 8 inches long and nests in cactus and thorny plants that grow in the hilly area. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Burger stands next to an artificial nest in the hills above Laguna Canyon Road. Her experiment, a tangle of barbed wire suspended from a pipe framework, is designed to tempt the cactus wren to nest. The birds prefer the thorny prickly pear and cholla cacti. The fake nests might be used where wildfires have destroyed natural cactus habitat.

Burger stands next to an artificial nest in the hills above Laguna Canyon Road. Her experiment, a tangle of barbed wire suspended from a pipe framework, is designed to tempt the cactus wren to nest. The birds prefer the thorny prickly pear and cholla cacti. The fake nests might be used where wildfires have destroyed natural cactus habitat. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)